In an interesting turn of events on Tuesday, a man who was already doing time in a Florida jail for another murder entered a guilty plea. This plea was to the long-unsolved homicide that occurred in 1991 of a lady he met at a bar.
According to a press statement issued by the state’s prosecutors, Michael Townson, 53, was found guilty of first-degree murder. He received a life sentence in prison with the chance of parole after serving 25 years.
During a hearing this morning in Volusia County, defendant Michael Townson entered a plea as charged to First-Degree Murder and was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after serving at least 25 years.
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— State Attorney, Florida's 7th Circuit (@SAO7FL) December 20, 2022
Assault and Disposing of the Body
After meeting Linda Lois Little at a nightspot in Daytona Beach in October 1991, Townson acknowledged assaulting her and choking her to death, which ultimately led to her death. The corpse of Little was never discovered.
Little, 43, a native of North Carolina, had resided in the Daytona Beach region for two years and was employed as a waitress when she disappeared after her shift some 1 a.m. on October 11, 1991.
Officials said Townson informed them he proceeded to drive north on I-95 and dumped Little’s body close to some trash in local Camden County, Georgia. There was no trace of Little among the unclaimed remains in that county’s morgue, as far as the investigation could tell.
According to Daytona Beach Police Detective Dave Dinardi, Townson lived in Orlando in 1991 and frequently made trips to the surrounding area to enjoy the area’s beaches.
A man already imprisoned in Florida for another killing pleaded guilty Tuesday to the long-unsolved 1991 slaying of a woman he met at a bar. https://t.co/xGuKW3HMrO
— FOX 35 Orlando (@fox35orlando) December 21, 2022
At the media briefing, Little’s sister, Wanda Henson, expressed her appreciation for the confession and stated it allowed the family to put the matter to rest finally.
Previous Assault and Court Briefing
According to the court papers, Townson confessed to the deadly beating on January 16, 2007, in Brevard County, which resulted in the death of a childhood friend named Sherri Carman.
According to a summary of Townson’s plea and sentence hearing, the victim was sitting on a sofa in Townson’s living room at the time of the episode. This is when he attacked her with a large metal pipe and a hammer.
Per the record, Townson claimed that he had become angry with her after they had sex and she later told him that she had AIDS. However, an autopsy determined that she did not have the virus in her body.
In accordance with the terms of the plea deal, Townson entered a guilty plea to murder in the first degree and was subsequently sentenced to life in prison without the chance of release.
The statement that the defendant is an admitted serial murderer was included in the news release issued by State Attorney R.J. Larizza. It is always satisfying to crack a long-standing mystery like this one.
This article appeared in NewsHouse and has been published here with permission.
